LED Technology

OKI Printing Solutions has pioneered the development and use of LED technology in printing for over 20 years. LED or Light Emitting Diode/Device is the type of light source used in the electrophotographic printing method for most of our printers.LED printheads use an array containing multiple LEDs and the LEDs individually turn on and off according to print signals.

Conventional LEDs have a two-terminal structure comprised of an anode and a cathode. In a technology made possible by Epi Film Bonding, the new LED array features a three-terminal structure comprised of an anode, cathode, and gate, adding switching capabilities to the conventional LED function of emitting light. The new LEDs reduce the number of wires required in the chip and reduce chip width by 22%. They also make it possible to deploy a single power line on the substrate on which LEDs are mounted, halving the number of substrates used.

OKI Printing Solutions was the world's first company to achieve high-volume production of LED printheads based on this new technology. All future LED products will incorporate this new LED printhead.

LED Printhead Advantages

Smaller dot sizes create highly accurate output

Multi-level shading provides superior print quality and clarity

LEDs have no moving parts and are ultra reliable

LED is smaller and more compact, using fewer material resources and energy

LED vs. Laser

Laser systems rely on elaborate combinations of rotating mirrors and lenses that must remain in alignment through use. The laser scans from one end of a line to another, then zig-zags down to the next line.

LED technology uses a Light Emitting Diode printhead as a light source within the imaging device. Unlike laser systems, the LED printhead is solid-state and has no moving parts. The LED bar pulse-flashes across the entire page width and creates the image on the print drum as it moves down.

OKI also has a straight-line paper path (Single Pass Color) that's less susceptible to jams when feeding heavy stock, envelopes or labels.

LED technology is the future. We're so sure of this that we guarantee the printhead of every OKI page printer for five full years — by far the longest warranty in the industry!

LED Dot-Size Precision

With 1200 dpi (dots per inch) print resolution, a printer should place 1200 dots/spots, precisely printed at 25 micrometers apart (on center). However, while a 1200 dpi LED printer can produce a 25 micrometer dot/spot, a 1200 dpi laser printer can only produce a 65 micrometer dot/spot. This translates to greater print quality when using LED technology. See the animation at right for a quick demonstration of this comparison.

Multi-level vs. Bi-level Printing

Traditional laser printers apply dots using two levels of intensity: 100% black or 100% white. Dots are grouped together (creating halftone cells) to simulate levels of grey. This is referred to as bi-level printing.

By contrast, our multi-level LED printing technology can produce different levels of intensity. This produces up to 16 shades or tones in the range between black and white. This is similar to the effect you get when replacing a standard light switch with a dimmer switch.

Multi-level Technology delivers more shades of grey or color within the same size halftone cell. This results in a higher level of detail and greater color depth, another great feature from OKI Printing Solutions.